Docket Alarm

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By speedplane | Updated 5日前 | Business
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README

Welcome to the Docket Alarm API / PACER API

This API allows you to pull legal information from the United States court system, including civil, criminal, and bankruptcy cases. The underlying system Docket Alarm connects to is called “PACER”, so we often refer to Docket Alarm as a PACER API.

First, a bit on the U.S. Court System

There are many different types of courts in the United States of America. Each of the 50 states has its own court system, often with several different levels (e.g., small claims, trial courts, appeals courts, supreme courts).

In addition to state courts, there are also Federal Courts, which are operated by the Federal government. Federal courts handle all bankruptcy cases, most intellectual property cases (patents, copyrights, trademarks), constitutional challenges, maritime cases, employment discrimination cases, and more. Federal courts also handle many types of criminal cases including hacking, racketeering, drug trafficking, illegal weapon possession, terrorism, and much more. Federal courts can also handle state court cases under certain circumstances. In short, the Federal court system handles quite a few of the cases in the U.S. (several hundred thousand a year), but certainly not all of them.

Currently, Docket Alarm provides access to Federal courts. We are always adding more courts, so please let us know if you have an interest in a particular jurisdiction.

How a Court Case is Organized

Most court cases, including Federal court cases, are organized into “dockets.” A new court “docket” is created whenever a person sues another, files for bankruptcy, is criminally prosecuted for breaking the law, or appeals a judgment. Every time a document is filed with the court, the document appears on the court docket as a “docket entry”. Every time the court issues an order, it also appears as a docket entry. Typical cases have anywhere from a few docket entries to thousands.

A docket entry usually consists of a date, a short summary of the purpose of the entry, and a PDF document associated with the entry. For example, when a jury issues their verdict in a criminal case, often the form they fill out shows up as a docket entry on the docket. There may also be a short summary of the verdict form as part of the docket entry (e.g., innocent or guilty).

The Docket Alarm API

The Docket Alarm API provides three basic functions:

  • Searching for dockets
  • Downloading detailed docket information
  • Downloading documents associated with docket entries.

Before you can perform any of these functions, you must first create a Docket Alarm account at www.docketalarm.com. Creating an account is free. After you create an account, you must log into the API to receive a login_token. You will then use that login_token in all subsequent requests. Please see the API documentation for the format of the three functions above as well as examples.

Costs

The U.S. government charges people to access their documents, so the Docket Alarm API must pass those costs on. If you create an account with Docket Alarm and enter your credit card, Docket Alarm will pay the U.S. government for accessing the files and pass those costs along to you, with a nominal fee for using the API.

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